I'm Always Here
by Irhaboggles
Summary: Elphaba may have been dead for quite some time, but Glinda still sees her in dreams and hallucinations. Or at least, she thinks that they are hallucinations. But who knows? Maybe these phantom visions of Elphaba aren't quite as false as she thinks...


Elphaba had died about a month ago, yet Glinda still always felt her presence everywhere. She wasn't sure if she liked this or not. On the one hand, there was something strangely comforting about still being able to feel Elphaba's presence, but on the other, it seemed to serve only as a cruel reminder of all that Glinda had lost, and how responsible she was for that loss. Glinda had already hallucinated, dreamed of and spoken about Elphaba nearly a hundred times before, and she wasn't sure how much more of it she could take before she went mad. She also hoped nobody would grow too suspicious of her strange behavior. But she couldn't help it. She couldn't control these hallucinations, nor the emotions she felt before, during, and after them. Elphaba just refused to leave her be, and Glinda wasn't sure if she loved the green girl for that, or hated her...

Glinda cried herself to sleep that night, again, after looking over some old photos of her and Elphaba. There was one of Glinda giving Elphaba a makeover. One of them eating lunch by Suicide Canal. One of them studying sorcery. One of Glinda whispering in a smiling Elphaba's ear. One of them headed to the Emerald City, one of them at the City, and then one of them at the Wizard of Oz's doorstep. That was where the phots ended, however, because after that, Elphaba had run off. Glinda would not see her again for many years after that departure and even when they did manage to reunite, the reunion did not last long before Elphaba was taken away from her again, this time permanently.

"Glinda?" a voice suddenly called out and Glinda turned to see a green figure tapping on her window.

"Elphie?" Glinda choked out, unable to believe such fortune. But a proud wink told Glinda all she needed to know. Suddenly, she knew Elphaba's death had all only been staged. Eager, Glinda practically fell out of bed to open the window. Once it was open, the two girls embraced tightly. Glinda never thought she'd be so happy to see the color green. But of course, it was the best shade of all: Elphaba green.

"I've missed you so!" Glinda sobbed. Elphaba hushed her and caressed her golden locks, but Glinda continued to cry. "I thought I had lost you!"

"And I you, my sweet. But please, be strong. I'm always here," Elphaba replied warmly. Glinda only nodded into Elphaba's shoulder happily.

"I'm always here," Elphaba's voice echoed in Glinda's head as she shot awake.

"Oh not again!" Glinda wailed. She began to sob in grief and despair as she realized she had been duped, yet again, by another dream. It didn't matter how many times she had dreams like that, she couldn't help but believe every single one...

Once Glinda managed to stop crying, a wave of anger washed over her and she shouldered her way out of her room with a nasty expression on. As she tromped down the hallway away from her royal bedchambers, she passed a mirror hanging on the wall. For just a split second, as she walked on by, a flash of green tinted the mirror's smooth surface. Glinda did a quick double-take, but by the time she was looking into the mirror again, she could only see her angry, unhappy face staring back at her.

"Get it together, you little idiot!" Glinda spat at herself. "You can start believing in your waking hallucinations now as well! As if the dreams weren't bad enough! Elphaba won't be back and you know this, so quit getting your hopes up!" she continued to berate herself as she resumed her walk down the hallway. As she reached the staircase, however, she thought for sure that she could hear laughter echoing from within, but it was not just any laughter. It was... No! Glinda shook her head violently, unwilling to be tricked by another hallucination, but even so, she couldn't help but shake her head at how uncanny that laughter had been. It really did sound just like Elphaba...

Glinda turned around, then, prepared to find another stairwell. Right as she turned, she thought she caught the corner edge of a cape swishing away out of view just beyond in the next hallway. Of course, by the time Glinda reached that next hallway, the cape was gone. Perhaps it had only been a shadow? These hallucinations were maddening!

That evening, too afraid to go to bed in case dreams about Elphaba came to plague her again, Glinda went up to the castle rooftop instead. There was no way she'd be able to fall asleep out there! It was cold and uncomfortable, the perfect environment to keep her up. But the moment she opened the door and climbed out onto the castle roof, she thought she saw something large and dark flying overhead.

"Elphaba?!" she gasped, but then she chastised herself immediately. "No! Stupid! Of course not! It was only a bird!"

"No, you were right on the first guess!" a new voice sing-songed playfully. Glinda whipped around at once to see, standing mere inches behind her, a tall and lanky figure all clad in black. The only other color on her was the green of her skin, which glowed gently in the moonlight.

"No, this must be a dream!" Glinda said, panicking. "Oh! Please, no more! If this is your idea of fun, then please go away, Elphie! I can't keep losing you every time I wake up! And if this is some punishment, then what must I do for forgiveness!?"

"It's good to see you too, my sweet," Elphaba chuckled as Glinda continued to stare at her in horror. Ignoring the little blond's concern, the green girl drew closer. "Might I ask what brings you up here on a night like this?" she asked. For a moment longer, Glinda could only stare, mouth opening and closing, but no sound coming out. At last, however, she managed to formulate a one-word response.

"Stargazing," she said, and Elphaba couldn't stop a laugh.

"There we go," she murmured. "I was worried you'd lost the ability to speak."

"Well, in particular," Glinda confessed, too unsure of what all she was seeing to find anything Elphaba said funny. "I was looking to the western sky..." then she trailed off, turning her head in that direction as though she still didn't quite believe... Meanwhile, Elphaba gave her a sad smile.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, my sweet. Your loyalty touches me, but you must stop. You know I'm not there anymore-" she began.

"I know! I just wish you were!" Glinda interrupted, Elphaba's 'I'm not there anymore' forcing her back into a very painful reality. "Don't torture me any longer, please!" she sobbed as she flung herself into Elphaba's arms. "If you are a hallucination, please go away! No more!"

"You didn't let me finish," the green girl replied as she wrapped her own arms back around Glinda's shaking body. "What I was trying to say was that I am no longer in the western sky... because I'm actually right here," then she pressed a kiss to Glinda's forehead. Struck by this, Glinda ceased crying for a moment and pulled her face away from Elphaba's shoulder, turning her teary blue eyes upward to look into Elphaba's.

"Really?" she squeaked.

"Really," Elphaba promised with another kiss to her forehead. "Though I may not be here physically, I'm still here with you. Just like I promised," she said. "After all, haven't you been drawing on my wisdom to help you lead Oz?" she asked.

"Yes?" Glinda replied, though the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Elphaba was right. Even though Elphaba had been gone for quite some time, she had never left Glinda's mind, or her heart, in all that time. And Glinda had, indeed, been using some of Elphaba's past wishes and wisdoms to help her lead Oz into a better, brighter future.

"See? I told you I'm always here," Elphaba said smirking as she saw the realization dawn in Glinda's eyes.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Glinda mumbled before a huge grin took over her face. "Thank you, Elphie."

"Of course, my sweet. Any time," Elphaba replied as she lowered herself and Glinda down so that they were sitting on the rooftop and gazing at the stars once more. Elphaba kept her arms wrapped tightly around Glinda and Glinda nuzzled into her neck, reclining against the green girl's body again. This was paradise. Just her, Elphaba, and the stars...

Glinda shot awake, but she didn't remember ever even falling asleep. But then it clicked in her mind... The agony at realizing that she had been duped by yet another Elphaba dream threatened to overwhelm her and she could feel raw grief bubbling up into her throat, but before she could start crying again, she remembered that she was still on the palace roof.

"Crap!" she muttered through her tears, then she slid quickly back down the roof and into the castle, successfully hopping in bed mere minutes before the morning maid made her morning arrival.

"Good morning, your majesty!" the maid greeted politely as she entered Glinda's room.

"Good morning," Glinda replied, trying to look as though she hadn't just spent the whole night sleeping on the palace roof. But clearly, something must've showed because, once the maid drew close enough, she gave Glinda a most curious look.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Glinda asked nervously, worried that something might've given her away.

"It seems to me," the maid replied. "That your majesty, has something on her forehead."

"I do? Bring me a mirror! Quick!" Glinda commanded nervously. Maybe it was dirt from being up on the roof? She wanted to see it for herself so she could come up with a credible lie. The maid obeyed Glinda at once and gave her the handheld mirror sitting on her vanity. Glinda peered inside and saw a faint black outline. It looked like a pair of... lips?

"I cannot say that I know what it is," Glinda confessed as she set the mirror down into her lap.

"Shall I bring her majesty some skin-care ointment?" the maid asked in return.

"No," Glinda waved the woman's suggestion off. "It does not appear to be any sort of rash. I will let you know if it gets worse, but for now, I would leave it be," she instructed, so the maid only curtseyed politely, finished getting Glinda her morning needs, and then dismissed herself from the room. The moment she was gone, Glinda picked up her little mirror again and brought it even closer to her forehead. Yes! It was! Sure as she was Glinda Upland, that was a mark from someone with black lipstick. And who in Oz did Glinda know that had black lipstick? Who in Oz had kissed Glinda's forehead recently? Suddenly, then, the softest of voices echoed in Glinda's mind.

"I'm always here..."

**AN: Semi inspired off a prompt where Person A keeps hallucinating that Person B has returned to them even though Person B has been long gone (not necessarily through death, though), but I had to give it a happy ending with the idea that maybe Glinda's last hallucination of Elphaba wasn't really a hallucination after all... **


End file.
